


landmines

by ThatWaxLion



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Strained Friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23898985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatWaxLion/pseuds/ThatWaxLion
Summary: Dani and Bright's friendship hits a rough patch and Bright does something stupid. In the heat of a fight, Dani confronts him about what he was going to say to her while he was holding down the landmine.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 10
Kudos: 117





	landmines

**Author's Note:**

> Set pre-finale. Eve is out, but I didn't kill her.  
> Tenses are still not my friends. Bear with me please :)

_It’s going to be okay._ She glanced in her rearview mirror. _Calm. Composed. Focused_. She put one curly strand back in her place, pursed her lips and opened her car door with a determined swing. A cool breeze hit her chest as she looked up at the bleakly impressive building. She automatically pulled her jacket tighter and walked past the building sign.

\- - -

When Gil had called her in his office and informed her about an ongoing investigation at the Narcotics Unit, Dani Powell felt a strange excitement.

“I specifically told Davis no undercover operation, no infiltration type of mess, nothing that would require a long-term involvement.” Gil said with a hard voice. “We need you down here Powell, this is merely consultation service based on your experience. You go through their intel, help them connect the dots, dig up info, that’s it. In and out. No field job. You understand me?” he narrowed his eyes at her, slight concern detectable in his glance.

Dani nodded slowly, chewing on the inside of her cheek. It’s been a while since she’d done any work for her old department and with the current state of affairs regarding her job, she more than welcomed the change. Even more so, she’d kept an eye over the ongoing investigation – she still had some acquaintances back at Narcotics and this was a sexy case. A new type of opioid medication somehow, not so magically appeared on the drug market, attracting the biggest crews currently running the NYC drug scene. The case also pointed to one of the most established pharmaceutical distributors as well as to the RDC itself.

Dani’s involvement was requested by his former chief, Scott Davis, based on her previous field work with Desir’s crew; she knew the key players of the scene and her former contacts could come in handy for the operation.

She cleared her throat. “Noted. When do I start?”

Gil watched her intently. “You can always say no. Davis would understand. You’ve got your own cases here to worry about. I can talk him out of it.”

She shook her head. “No need. They wouldn’t have requested me unless they needed me.” She hesitatingly added. “Besides, you’ll be fine without me. This shouldn’t take long.”

“Alright, I’ll call Davis.” Gil sighed, reluctantly accepting her decision.” Tarmel will cover for you.”

Dani puffed. “He’ll be thrilled.” She stood up and walked towards the door, Gil’s voice stopping her midway.

“We’re gonna miss you down here.”

She turned back, managed a half-smile and closed the door behind her.

 _Right._ Truth was, she might not miss them so much, after all.

The last couple of weeks have been…straining. Somehow, the cases seemed more gruesome, the hours more relentless, the victories smaller and less gratifying. Seeds of fatigue and emotional numbness grew steadily inside her, slowly encompassing her. And while this was nothing new, she’d had these phases before, now she felt…. completely alone. JT hadn’t been around that much lately; he’d been understandably preoccupied with Tally’s approaching due date and has spent every hour outside of work preparing for their new life. Gil was always sympathetic, but she wasn’t going to bother him with the well-known side-effects of this job. As much as she liked Edrisa, she still couldn’t figure out how to connect with her, as she’s never really had any female friends before.

And Bright…well. It seemed to Dani that whatever friendship or partnership or any other ship they’ve had, it had apparently sailed. As Eve reappeared in his life, so has he slowly retracted himself from hers. Not that there were any apparent changes. Just small ones, perfectly acceptable ones. No more random text messages in the middle of the night about a cold case theory. Less shared cups of Earl Grey. Less smiles that reached the eye. More polite gestures. Less enthusiastic speeches. Less personal questions. Less honest answers.

Dani kept telling herself that she’s happy for him, for his relationship, that he deserved this. He was still his friend. And friends in relationships tend to disappear and that didn’t even happen, so. She just wondered why the hand tremors have gotten worse if he’s in a happy relationship.

And then, Eve got out of the picture. She asked him if he’s okay, if he wanted to talk about it. There was the polite “No”, the smile that never reached the eye and the hand tremor, which he tried to disguise. Something he had never done before. Not in front of her. But she didn’t give up. She brought him tea to the conference room. She asked him about cold cases and random things. She even toyed with the idea to reveal JT’s real name, just to initiate a conversation, but that would’ve been too desperate.

With each passing day, each polite gesture, unbrought Earl Grey and the poorly disguised hand tremor, she saw Bright putting brick on top of another brick, slowly building up his own wall and she couldn’t do anything, because her walls started to close in on her too. 

And then, things have gotten worse. On each new case, she somehow ended up most of the time running background checks, rounding up witnesses, checking on lab results – on Bright’s requests, approved by Gil. That meant less time on the field. With him, presumably. She had no idea why and whenever she tried to confront him, he had a perfectly reasonable justification. And she felt foolish. But more than anything, she felt…. unneeded.

Apparently, Narcotics Unit had the best timing.

She dived in as soon as she could, working day and night, from her new desk and her very old couch, and it didn’t take long before her attention turned to the pharmaceutical distribution company. She relentlessly went through each and every executive and soon enough, she singled out one with the most interesting background – Dr. Henry Clarkson. As she cross-checked Clarkson’s previous workplaces, her red-rimmed eyes soon landed on a hospital that just had a familiar ring to its name. She sighed. _There we go._

\-----

“Claremont Psychiatric Hospital. How can I help?”

Dani flashed her badge to the ward. “I’m here to see dr. Martin Whitly. Detective Powell, NYPD.” She rocked on her heels, feeling the level of adrenaline rising in her. She glanced around and a shiver run down her spine as she remembered the last time she was here. With her partner.

The ward’s voice snapped her back to present. “I’m sorry ma’am but your name is not on the visitor’s list.”

Dani’s eyes slightly narrowed. “That’s not possible. Check again please. Detective Dani Powell, NYPD.” The ward looked at her apologetically but he put back the list on his desk. “I’m here to ask Dr. Whitly about a former colleague of his. Check again please.” she pushed; her voice slightly raised.

The ward glanced at her, then hesitatingly picked up the receiver. “A Detective Powell is here to see dr. Martin Whitly…no, she is not. I understand, sir. Of course, sir.”

Dani’s chest tightened as she saw the ward putting back the receiver. “I’m very sorry Detective, but it seems that your name is not on the visitor’s list. You cannot see dr. Whitly now.” he said politely, but Dani heard the finality in his tone. She nodded, then turned on her heels, her hard steps echoing on the floor as she left the building.

Outside, she breathed in the fresh air, hoping in vain that it would calm her. She forced herself to remain composed, at least until she found out what happened. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and immediately hit the caller icon.

“Arroyo.”

“It’s Dani. There’s been a mixup at Claremont, I can’t get in. Didn’t your request go through?” she asked, her hand impatiently running through her curls.

“It did, Davis confirmed it this morning.”

“Well then why would he shut it down? It makes no sense. He specifically asked me to follow through with the Whitly angle.” she sighed in frustration. This made no sense.

“Kid, I don’t know what to say. I’m not a fan of the idea of you dropping in to have a chitchat with a manipulative sociopath but I get that he might have some valuable intel on your case. Davis actually convinced me to put in the request. This wasn’t his doing. It couldn’t be, he doesn’t have that kind of authority.”

She pursed her lips in an attempt to stop the flood of curse words bubbling inside her throat.

“Well then who has? And why on earth would anyone bother to - ” she stopped short, as her logic caught up with her. She'd had that uneasy, inkling feeling in her gut ever since the ward put down the phone but she refused to jump to conclusions.

_Innocent until proven guilty._

She heard Gil’s ragged sigh on the phone. “Only someone with good connections and ties to Martin can do that. My money would be on Jessica, but she has no idea about this case and besides, it wouldn’t make any sense.” he paused. “You want me to talk to him?”

She gritted her teeth. “No need. I will.” She didn’t wait for Gil’s answer and tapped on her phone, stuffing it back in her pocket as she practically teared up her car door.

_You have the right to remain silent. But don’t you dare, Bright._

\------

She was kneeling in front of her file cabinet, fumbling around in the bottom drawer. _It has to be here somewhere_. Just as her fingers got a hold on a bulky folder, she noticed a familiar shadow on the wall. She straightened up a little too hastily and turned around.

“Hey” his soft smile caught her off guard. She hadn’t been around the precinct in the last two weeks, the pharma case consuming her. But the previous night she thought she finally had a breakthrough on one of the executives at the distribution company and she had to double check her theory, which led her back to her old (or, permanent) desk and files. Thankfully, she was so caught up with the workload that she just didn’t have the time to think about anything else…or anyone. But now, as Bright was standing in front of him, at arm’s length, she felt the familiar pang creeping back in her chest.

“Hey.” she managed a half-smile.

His smile faded slightly. “So, how’s the new case?” he asked in a tone that sounded perhaps a bit too enthusiastic for the question.

“It’s going good, I think. We made some progress.” Dani had no idea how to make small talk with someone who shared his darkest moments in the past with her. It just felt wrong. She felt his gaze on her as she was fumbling with the sleeve of her blouse.

“I thought you’ve had a breakthrough of some sorts.”

Her head snapped up. “How….?” she looked at him incredulously. A warm smile spread across his face and she detected a hint of mischief in his eyes.

“Based on your slightly puffed eye and your thermo mug”- he pointed his index finger to her tried and true ecoffee cup she only carried with herself when she was in a hurry and didn’t have time to stop for coffee on her way to work - “I’d say you didn’t get much sleep. And the fact that you’re digging up some old case files here means you’re probably working on an angle.”

He glanced at the open drawer, as if trying to guess which file she was about to pull out.

She sighed and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. The remnants of an old friendly teasing routine. “Yeah well. It’s just an idea, I still have to double check some facts, so.”

He nodded. “So…no fieldwork then, huh?” his gaze met hers.

The innocent question triggered something in Dani and suddenly a wave of hostility washed over her. She was surprised by its force and had to clear her throat. As she crossed her arms over her chest, Bright’s face tensed.

“Unlikely. But possible” her defensive tone made Bright step slightly back. The distance between them was growing, yet again. She noticed a slight tremble in his hand. He quickly put it behind his back, a very typical posture for him, yet her heart sank at the motion. He didn’t want her to see his hand. The one that was, obviously, never better. She glanced at him and could estimate the number of hours he slept based on the shades of dark circles under his eyes. All she wished for was to sit down next to him with a cup of tea and ask him why he looked so…forlorn. Why he was so distant. Why he needed to hide his hand. Maybe it wasn’t too late. After all, he came to her.

She cleared her throat.

“Bright- ” her quiet voice came out softer than she thought it would. “I…do you…want to grab a tea maybe? I mean, it’s… been a while.” his gaze flickered up and for a moment, their eyes met. Before she could decipher anything from them except the strange sadness that radiated from him, Bright quickly disappeared behind a forced smile.

“I’d love to but I’m afraid I have to check in with Gil. And besides, it seems like you have a lead to go after, you shouldn’t waste time. Raincheck?” he added, his eyes already darting away.

She slowly nodded, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. “Sure. Say hi to the team from me.”

Bright looked at her tentatively. “Dani, I - ” their eyes met. He flinched. “I will. See you around.” he finally said, then quickly turned and walked away.

Dani let out a long sigh and sank back to her knees, resting her hand on the file cabinet drawer for a moment. She felt drained, as once again she was confronted with the fact how much she depended on their friendship and how lonely she felt without it. Without him. After a couple of deep breaths, her fingers found the bulky file yet again, already half pulled-out from the drawer, with a hastily written post-it note stuck on it: ‘S’

\----

She was two minutes away from his apartment and with each passing mile, her anger was rising to the point where she felt like molten lava cursed through her veins.

_How dare you, Bright. How dare you._

She knew the moment she identified Clarkson’s former workplace as the same hospital where the Surgeon had practiced that she had something. She cross-checked the dates and wouldn’t you know, there was an overlap in time when they both practiced at the same hospital. And as much as she disliked the idea to get intel from a notorious serial killer who happened to be the father and long-time tormentor of her friend, she knew if anyone, dr. Whitly will give her a correct assessment about Clarkson. At least about his ‘practices’ back in the day. She thought about it long and hard. She wasn’t a thrill seeker; she wouldn’t have gone visiting him unless she had thought it would help the case she started to build up against the pharmaceutical distribution company. After all, she knew what the man was capable of, the force of his psychological harmdoing evident in his son, her partner.

She easily convinced Davis that she needed to see the Surgeon, but she needed Gil to make the call and put him on the visitor’s list. It wasn’t easy to convince him, but eventually, he agreed to it, albeit quite reluctantly. After she got the green light, she started to prep for the interview. She had met the Surgeon before, but under very different circumstances. This time, she wasn’t anyone’s support.

After months of being practically benched by Bright and Gil, she finally had something that actually put her training, her background and skills to work and she was determined to do an impeccable job.

How dare he goes over her head and takes this away from her. This had nothing to do with him. This was her job.

Dani knew, judging by her deadly grip on the steering wheel that there was something more to her anger than this episode. All her defeats in the last months, both professional and personal, all the pent-up frustration, the feeling of powerlessness was finally finding their way to the surface. And she welcomed the fireworks with open arms. She’s had enough.

_How dare you, Bright._

She crossed the street to his apartment building in quick strides, feeling the fury tensing her muscles. She slammed her finger on the buzzer.

“It’s Dani. I need to talk to you.”

After a second, she was let inside. She pushed the door open and thirty seconds later she was standing in front of his apartment door. His door swung open and Bright stood in front of her, clearly perplexed by her sudden appearance.

“Hi…do you want to- ” Dani didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence and stormed past him into the loft. " - come in?” Bright quietly finished as he closed his door and took a couple of steps in her direction.

She turned around, facing him. She felt her cheeks flushed with anger, but she tried to keep her tone in check.

“So, how’ve you been Bright?” She hissed in a mock-polite voice.

Bright studied her expression with a frown and she knew he read her anger. Not that she made any efforts hiding it. He cleared his throat and went along with it anyway. “Good, thanks. And you?”

“Peachy.” she spat and crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her feet tapping on the floor.

Bright swallowed. “Dani, is something wr—”

“So tell me, when did you decide to cross my name off of the Surgeon’s visitor list?” she tried to steady her tone, but her voice was shaking with resentment. “Was it before or after you saw the file I was getting from my desk? Or was it right after we went to visit him? Did you just think, nah” - she made a grimace - “She can’t handle this? Tell me, when?”

She stepped closer to him, now inches away from his face and stared right into his eyes, as a mixture of repressed tears and anger were burning hers, and she was sure Bright could feel the flames. He stepped back, startled and clearly at loss of words. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He opened his mouth, biting his tongue on words and just flopped down in one of the kitchen chairs.

“After I saw the file. I’ve asked Claremont long ago to notify me whenever a request comes through.” he said quietly, staring at his hands in his lap. Dani’s breath was caught in her throat. She half-expected a denial, or a quick monologue to justify what he’s done, but not…this. This resigned candor.

“How dare you.” she finally said with gritted teeth, her body shaking with exasperation.

His head jerked up. “How dare I?” His voice was quickly rising, his tone now as irritated as hers. “Dani, you have no idea how manipulative he is, I -”

She cut him off quickly. “Stop it. Stop assuming I have no idea about things.” she seethed, stepping closer to him again. “He is not my father Bright. I don’t have the same kind of emotional whiplash you have. He doesn’t have the kind of power over me that he has over you. You just don’t trust me enough to think I can handle myself with him.”

“This is not about trust, it’s about _protection_!” his voice was shaking as he stood up, almost unable to contain his temper. “Don’t you get it Dani? Everyone who is dear to me will end up either killing or dying, because of him, because of me! “he practically shouted the last words, finally glaring straight into her eyes.

She was taken aback by his sudden outburst and instinctively stepped backwards. Her chest was painfully tight and she felt her throat closing up. She was unable to assess whether she felt the pain or anger more. She cleared her throat and held his gaze.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” she said quietly “Because it’s all about trust. Trusting my skills, that I am capable of holding my ground. I’m a cop Bright, I was trained to do this. And I’m not your mother, or Ainsley, or a past acquaintance. I am your partner. Or at least I thought I was. I don’t need you to protect me, I need you to _trust_ me, to have my back, not go behind it. Not - ” she sighed in frustration, running her hand through her curls. “- not sidelining me. Keeping me from doing my job.”

She searched his eyes, but his glance slipped, and he waved his hand in frustration. She wanted to step closer to him, to grab his head, to make him listen. But her body didn’t move. She cleared her throat.

“You know…I thought you were bullshitting me at the Taylor wedding.” his head snapped back up and he stared at her. “But now I realize that you were probably telling me the truth. Tell me something, and for once, be honest with me.“ he visibly flinched at her words, but Dani needed to get it out. “When you were holding that landmine…you _were_ going to tell me something case-related, weren’t you? But you changed your mind, because you just thought I won’t be able to handle it. To do my job. That’s why you hesitated and didn’t say anything. At least do me the courtesy of telling the truth.” she nearly chocked on her words, silently terrified of what might come.

His gaze dropped again, and his hand was shaking violently, but at least he wasn’t hiding it anymore. His shoulders were slumped, and Dani could literally see his tension evaporating, his energy draining. He looked defeated. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Dani unconsciously held her breath, as if his next words were about to make or break her whole.

“You are right…and wrong too.” he said quietly, staring at his lap, unable to meet her gaze. “I was going to tell you something related to the profile.“

Dani felt a jolt of pain. She was right after all.

“I wanted to make sure I leave enough info for you to go on, in case I... wouldn’t be around to help out. But... my sympathetic nervous system stimulated the fight-flight-or-freeze response and it took control over my body. So… when I looked at you -” he swallowed hard and took a moment to continue as he was searching for words, “My body was already on full alert and my mind went blank. And the only thought I had left was… primal.”

He finally looked straight into her eyes, his voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I never got the chance to kiss you.” A short, dry laugh escaped him and he tiredly rubbed his face. “So… that’s why I couldn’t get a word out.” he dropped his gaze again, unable to meet hers any longer.

Dani stared at him in disbelief, his words nearly knocking the wind out of her. She felt her anger evaporating and the burning feeling of shame overwhelmed her. She felt like a bully. This was a coerced confession, one that she was not entitled to hear. She could barely glance at him in her own remorse, but she needed to check if he was somewhat okay. His eyes were cast down, his whole body language screamed defeat. She defeated him. And that feeling left her nauseous.

She swallowed hard and she finally spoke. “I’m sorry for pushing you Bright. This…was very private and I had no place forcing out this…admission from you.”.

Bright gently shook his head, the tremble in his hand slightly less violent. “No. It’s okay. You were right. I shouldn’t have gone behind your back. I don’t think, I never have, that you are anything but capable.” he said sheepishly, eyes still avoiding hers. “I thought by cutting you out of my life, that you would be better off. That you would be safe.”

She believed him. And she finally understood. She hated seeing him like this and knowing that by having the upper hand in this fight, she humiliated him. She never wanted to have any leverage over him, and certainly nothing like this. She always wanted to be his equal. If he shared something that intimate, under these circumstances, Dani needed to make sure he doesn’t think that she would in any way use or hold this against him.

She slowly took a step closer to where he stood. One step. Then another. She was standing right in front of him, barely inches away. He still didn’t look up. She felt her throat dry up and licked her lips, trying to gather some courage. She hesitatingly reached out her fingers, slightly trembling, and gently lifted his chin, so that she could finally look into his eyes that were haunted, but still beautifully clear to her. He searched her gaze, unsure and for once, seemingly unable to decipher her. She traced his jaw with her fingertips, moving up to his cheeks, brushing her thumb gently over the side of his eye, then traced his nape. Her gaze dropped to his lips and his eyes flickered as he finally understood. She leaned in slowly and her lips touched his, catching his warm breath. She saw his eyes grow wide and flutter shut and she mirrored his motion. She gently caressed his lips with hers, her hand moving to both sides of his face as she leaned her body against his. She felt his hands encircling her waist, then finding their way up into her hair, finally caressing her face, his warm fingers touching her gently. Her lips parted from his, but he pulled her back and firmly leaned into her, and this time, he was the one initiating the contact. The kiss deepened, as they were slowly discovering every inch of the other’s lips, tongues. Finally, they parted, panting for air. He held her steady and she traced light circles on the side of his face with her thumb. A warm smile spread slowly across her face as she saw his now transformed, soothed features.

“The next time you hold down a landmine” she whispered, the soft smile still dancing on her lips “you can stop wondering and just focus on the case.”

A gentle, quiet laugh escaped his lips and he tenderly brushed his fingers on her flushed cheeks. They stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms, neither of them willing to abandon the warmth and comfort of the moment.

And just like that, one by one, their bricks started to fall.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading this till the not-so-bitter-end! Please know that every thought and comment is very much appreciated - and very much needed. THANKS! :)


End file.
